The Chancellor of the Universidad de Las Américas (UDLA), the President of the Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF) and the President of the International Centre for Sport Studies (CIES), signed a partnership contract on 28 August in Quito with the aim of organising the FIFA/CIES Executive Programme in Sport Management in Ecuador.
It was in the UDLAPark auditorium that the Chancellor of UDLA, the President of FEF and the President of CIES signed the partnership contract in front of representatives from Ecuadorian football, wider sports and the media. The event cemented, therefore, a project, born of the will of FEF and supported by FIFA, to train Ecuadorian football managers, while opening up the course to individuals from other sports too.
For UDLA, which organizes an undergraduate course in the field of sports management, the programme represents an opportunity to expand its training offer while getting closer to Ecuadorian football. As Chancellor Dr Carlos Larreátegui noted: “Today UDLA is partnering with CIES and the FEF to launch a new Executive Programme in sports management. CIES is the academic arm of FIFA, which makes it the ideal partner for our university. UDLA is fully aware of the need to professionalise the management of sports clubs. By organising the first FIFA/CIES Executive Programme in Ecuador, our university is once again demonstrating its commitment to innovation. “
FEF have been active in the promotion of the objectives of the FIFA/CIES Executive Programme in close cooperation with its two other partners. For Francisco Egas, President of FEF, the establishment of this tripartite collaboration is significant. "Sport needs academic training. It is, therefore, essential to offer such programmes to the leaders of sports organisations. In this context, the signing of a cooperation contract between UDLA, CIES and FEF represents a great opportunity. This will enable the managers of our sports entities to access high-quality courses and acquire the appropriate tools to set up proper management in line with "good practices", and thus improve the administration of sport in Ecuador. “
For his part, Pierre Cornu, President of CIES, welcomed Ecuador to the International University Network, which brings together the universities organising the FIFA/CIES Executive Programme. He also highlighted the constructive spirit that characterized the negotiations and discussions prior to the signing of the contract: "CIES is delighted to enter into a partnership with the Universidad de Las Américas and the Ecuadorian Football Federation. The main objective of this collaboration is to organise the FIFA/CIES Executive Programme in Ecuador, which is already being offered in 16 other countries around the world. Our two partners have fully understood the importance of training in the field of sport, and football in particular. There is no doubt that our cooperation will be a success.
The Programme, which will start in February 2020 and end 7 months later, will allow students to familiarize themselves with various aspects of sport management (marketing, sponsorship, management, law, event management, communication and finance) through face-to-face classes in Quito and Guayaquil as well as online courses.